Website Construction

Every website developer must understand the following web components:

  • HTML 4.01
  • The Use of CSS (Style Sheets)
  • XHTML
  • XML and XSLT
  • Client-side script
  • Server-side script
  • Managing Data through SQL
  • The Future of the Web

HTML 4.01

HTML is the language of the Web, and every web developer needs to have a basic understanding of it.

HTML 4.01 is an important web standard, and the differences between it and HTML 3.2 are very significant.

After similar tags like font and color attributes were added to HTML 3.2, it gradually became a nightmare for developers. The process of developing websites that must add font information to each individual page became a long and expensive torment.

Through HTML 4.01, all formatting information can be moved out of the HTML document and into a separate style sheet.

Another reason why HTML 4.01 is important is due to XHTML 1.0, the latest HTML standard, which is a reexpression of HTML 4.01 as an XML application. Using HTML 4.01 on your pages ensures that HTML can be easily upgraded to XHTML in the future.

Make sure you are using the latest HTML 4.01 standard.

Learn our complete HTML 4.01 Reference Manual.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Styles can define how HTML elements are displayed, similar to the role of the font tag in HTML 3.2. Styles are usually stored in files outside the HTML document. External style sheets enable you to change the appearance and layout of all pages on the website by simply editing a simple CSS document. If you have ever tried to make certain changes, such as changing the font or color of all web page titles at the same time, you will understand how CSS can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Be sure to learn our CSS Tutorial.

XHTML - the future of HTML

XHTML refers to Extensible HyperText Markup Language (Extensible HyperText Markup Language).

XHTML 1.0 is the latest HTML standard from W3C. It became a formal recommendation (Recommendation) on January 26, 2000. W3C Recommendation means the stability of its specifications, and its specifications have now become a web standard.

XHTML is a restructured HTML 4.01 using XML and can be used immediately in existing browsers by following some simple guidelines.

Be prepared for the future: please readHow to convert a website to XHTML.

XML - a tool for describing data

Extensible Markup Language (XML) andNotAn alternative to HTML. In the future of web development, XML will be used to describe and store data, while HTML will be used to display data.

Our most appropriate description of XML is a cross-platform, hardware and software-independent information storage and transmission tool.

We believe that the importance of XML is not less than that of HTML for the fundamental position of the web, and XML will become the most important data processing and transmission tool.

Make sure to study our XML Tutorial.

XSLT - a tool for user data transformation

XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language used for transforming XML.

Future websites will have to transmit data in different formats to different browsers and to other web servers. XSLT is a new W3C standard for converting XML data into different formats.

XSLT can convert XML files into formats that browsers can recognize, such as HTML, or WML - a markup language used for many handheld devices.

XSLT can also add elements, delete elements, rearrange and sort elements, test and determine which elements to display, and so on.

Make sure to study our XSLT Tutorial.

Client-side script

Client-side scripts are a type of programming related to the behavior of web browsers. You should learn JavaScript to be able to pass more dynamic web content:

JavaScript is a programming tool provided for HTML designers
The creators of HTML are usually not programmers, but JavaScript is a very simple scripting language! Almost anyone can insert some JavaScript code snippets into their HTML pages.
JavaScript can place dynamic text in an HTML page
A JavaScript statement like this can write variable text to an HTML page: document.write("h1" + name + "/h1")
JavaScript can react to events
You can set JavaScript to execute when a certain event occurs, such as when the page is loaded or when a user clicks on an HTML element.
JavaScript can read and modify HTML elements
JavaScript can read and modify the content of HTML elements
JavaScript can be used to validate data
You can use JavaScript to validate form data before the form is submitted to the server, ensuring that the server processes the data correctly.

You must learn our JavaScript Tutorial.

Server-side script

Server-side scripts and Internet server programming are related. You should learn server-side scripts so that you can be able to deliver more dynamic website content. Through server-side programming, you can:

  • Dynamically edit, modify, or add web content
  • Respond to queries or data submitted by users from HTML
  • Access data or databases and return the result to the browser
  • Access files or XML data and return the result to the browser
  • Convert XML to HTML and return the result to the browser
  • Customize pages for different users to improve page usability
  • Provide security and access control for different web pages
  • Design different outputs for different types of browsers
  • Minimize network traffic

At W3SCHOOL, we use ASP and PHP Demonstrates server-side script programming

Make sure to study our ASP Tutorial and PHP Tutorial.

Using SQL to Manage Data

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a universal standard for accessing databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, and Access.

For those who want to store and retrieve data from databases, knowledge of SQL is extremely valuable.

Any web administrator should understand that SQL is a truly fitting engine for databases on the web.

Make sure to study our SQL Tutorial.

Future Prospects

You need to understand one very important thing, the functionality of the website will be completely transformed. We will see a huge transformation, that is, the website changes from the display of 'static content' to the transmission of 'dynamic content'.

We will also see many new browsers, such as browsers on mobile devices, and at the same time, we will see more about data communication using XML between servers, as well as between servers and browsers.